Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery - Dental Columbian Yearbook (New York, NY)

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Freud ' s contribution of the unconscious as- sumed a position of striking importance in the development of modern education. His presen- tation of the effects of an artificial social en- vironment and an involved emotional environ- ment in conflict with the natural instinctive reac- tions of the child, producing fixations through the workings of the unconscious with lasting ill effects, was a challenge which the early pioneers in modern education could not easily dismiss. The gradually increasing realization that the character formation period may be as early as the fourth to the sixth year of life, gave the child a new kind of important significance. Freud, too, must be credited with pointing to environ- ment, — essentially emotional environment, as be- ing responsibility for many personality and char- acter traits, previously attributable to heredity. The pioneers in modern education accepted this new psychologic evidence and for this rea- son were concerned with experimenting with chil- dren in the so-called pre-character formation period, as early as two years. It was a radically new kind of responsibility. It entailed the re- sponsibility of re-evaluation of the entire social structure on as honest a basis as possible for themselves as teachers, and for the parents of the child. The child became the most important mem- ber of society instead of, as in too frequent in- stances, the least important. Dewey ' s emphasis upon the doing coin- cided with the Freudian concept of the release of energy for constructive or creative purposes, instead of society ' s practice of suppressing such energy. Regimentation was completely forgotten. The three R ' s were forgotten. The imagination and fantasy of the child were, with subtle guid- ance, permitted free play and as the child ' s own interest developed, the factual material was gradually woven into their play. Parents and teachers in most instances co- operated and the results were most gratifying. As the child advanced in years, the experimental school grew with the child, new problems con- stantly arising. Psychologically as well as physiologically, the human may be divided into three stages — childhood, adolescence and adulthood, or matur- ity. While the problems in each one of these psychological levels are more or less distinct en- tities and require very special handling, yet each succeeding level is very closely dependent tor its growth and expansion upon the careful nurture of its former level; and it is part of the respon- sibility of education to properly wean the per- sonality between succeeding levels during the difficult transition periods. Just as the psychological problems in each level vary, so the educational approach should essentially vary to conform with the particular problems. A current popular slogan in adult education is motivation, direct or indirect. Direct motiva- tion essentially implies a stimulus or interest in learning through self-experimentation. Indirect motivation essentially implies a stimulus or inter- est in learning of such subject matter which per- mits of little or no experimentation, by regard- ing it as an instrument or tool necessary to use in self-experimentation of a closely related field. The child needs no motivation. The child is engaged in ceaseless experimentation; education need only direct and control it. Direct motiva- tion for the child is a natural process. Chores and responsibilities for the child are very light and the little need for indirect motivation is a problem easily controlled. For the adolescent, chores and responsibil- ities become more numerous. Grammar and vocabulary of languages must be acquired, established laws must be assimilated, routine and techniques must be developed. Psychologically, the essential problem of the adolescent is the exploration of new sensa- tion stimulated by the natural physiologic growth, resulting in strong tendencies for numerous dis- tractions and evasion of responsibilities. The natural motivation for constructive or creative endeavor, so strikingly exemplified in childhood, has a tendency to slip out of hand. Education, aware of these phenonema has a responsibility of keeping motivation alive. I should like to emphasize a distinction between sustaining the natural motivation of childhood and motivating the personality anew during adolescence. This may be only a question of nuance, but in my mind it is a fairly important principle to be observed. Natural motivation of childhood should be fostered and sustained dur- ing adolescence. Education, I believe, is most severely taxed during this psychologic period. It is a question of fairly intensive nursing with a firm hand. The problem of so-called indirect motivation

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MOTIVATION IN EDUCATION MOSES DIAMOND, D.D.S. Associate Professor of Dentistry As I look back upon my own schooling, I do not remember particularly being conscious of any criticism of the methods employed, with the exception of isolated experiences. I ap- parently had had a reasonable adjustment to the stereotyped procedure and was strangely alert to a self responsibility for doing my job. I did have an awareness, however, that the same thing could not be said about many of my school mates. It is exactly these differences in reaction to an environment with a particular set of con- ditions upon a group of personalities, which pre- sent the most difficult problem in education. The entire development of the movement of modern education, I believe, may be summed up in an attempt for a keener understanding of the personality as a whole, and the development of a system which may constantly be in a state of flux to cater to the personality with its wide range of variability. Just what the important landmarks in the rapid growth of education over a period of about one-quarter of a century have been and to what extent the realization of the objective has been attained, I will endeavor to show. The rigidly formalized and impersonal ap- proach of a quarter of a century ago, which unfortunately still exists in many sources of edu- cation as if no development had taken place, may be illustrated by a present-day experience. A mother disturbed by the reports of bad deportment of her child in the early grades of public school, finally sought an interview with the teacher. She sat through the hour. Two two-syllable words were spelled out of a group of about sixty children and repeated several times. One row of children were then called upon to stand and each child in turn was asked to spell the alternate word. This procedure was carried through the group. Two interesting things happened. The children of the first row, long since finished, with nothing to do, found themselves in all sorts of mischief. The children of the last rows, confused by the constant repeti- tion of the sounds of alternate words, began spelling his word using the first syllable of the one word and the second syllable of the second word. No additional comment need be made. Bergson in 1913, engaged in psychological experiments of similar character with similar re- sults. The personality in this instance as of a quarter of a century ago, was given no consid- eration. Soon after the World War, criticism of the formalized methods of education began to seep into our intellectual weeklies and one read a great deal in the Freeman, New Republic, and the Nation, against forced feeding in educa- tion. In 1916, I read Freud ' s Three Contribu- tions to the Theory of Sex, a monograph de- livered in the form of lectures at Clark Univer- sity in 1910, at the invitation of Stanley Hall. I mention these two sources of early influence at this time, as the beginning of my interest in education, to show particularly the opposite poles of approach from which my interests sprang. The one was pertinent criticism of the philosophy of educational procedure, the other a new approach to the evaluation of personality understanding. Following the war in 1919, in the anticipa- tion of becoming a parent and in the realization of the responsibility for the education of an off- spring, my organized interest in matters of edu- cation began. From that time on, as time would permit, my interest in education ran along paral- lel lines — the study of the philosophy and meth- ods of procedure of education and the patient, but fascinating pursuit of personality evaluation. The barra ge of criticism against forced feeding in education emanated from the writ- ings of John Dewey, whose philosophy partly in- fluenced by William James, placed the emphasis on the doing instead of the talking, thereby changing the entire philosophy of educational procedure. John Dewey may fittingly be called the father of modern education. Marietta Johnson, I believe, was the first in this country to attempt a practical application of the Dewey principles and started an experi- mental school in Alabama, which, although pretty much removed and isolated from any large cen- ter of activity, soon attracted considerable at- tention. Some years later she started a similar experiment in Greenwich, Connecticut, and dur- ing the summers, offered some courses and prac- tical demonstrations in the Greenwich School. Some few teachers and parents availed them- selves of the opportunity. The experiment at this stage was carried on with very young chil- dren. In 1914, Margaret Naumberg started a similar experiment which three years later be- came the Walden School. With the new approach of education orthodox psychology was founded wanting.

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is a problem largely concerning the adolescent. This process may tend to keep the personality dependent, but it should be gradually transferred as part of the inner values of the personality. This is a preparation for the weaning process in the transition period, between adolescence and maturity. Education can be, and should be, organically related to life as a whole. This can- not fail to sustain motivation in the larger sense. The attempt to motivate the personality in re- lation to some particular subject matter, ennu- cleated from its relation to life as a whole ceases to have the same value. The personality arriving at maturity, should begin to find a definite place for himself in so- ciety. A definite direction of purpose should be manifest. He should have a fairly strong sense of the values of social life and should be fully prepared with a sense of responsibility to accept his chores as part of the reality of life. The modern keynote of adult education is to place the emphasis for the responsibility of the education upon the personality. This implies the kind of background of psychologic growth inter- woven with the kind of educational procedure generally outlined. The mature personality should be in himself sufficiently well motivated, both directly and indirectly. The period of nurs- ing should be over. If education has anything to add as a basic principle to the mature personality, it is essen- tially in the direction of developing a more acute attitude of self criticism. To place the emphasis for the responsibility of the education upon the personality is, therefore, only possible if the per- sonality were so evolved. This, however, is far from the fact. Too large a percentage of the personalities in the mature groups of university and professional edu- cation seem to be arrested on an . adolescent level, and some are even infantile in their reac- tions. This statement is made regretfully, but not lightly. It is based upon an experience of some seventeen years with personalities of the adult age group. The personalities are found very much emo- tionally involved, in constant conflict with their environment, full of indecisions, greatly depend- ent, and with little or no self direction. In many instances, it becomes a question once more, of fairly intensive nursing which becomes a process of re-evaluation of psychologic and social values. The adult group as a whole, still leans upon artificial stimuli of regimentation. I have tried the experiment of doing away with the an- nounced written examination, but it is very easy to catch them off guard. They appeal to me as groups to announce written examinations period- ically, because of their dependence upon that kind of artificial stimulus to make them study. A written examination is a still veritable spectre for the body largely because of their own inse- curity, but they none-the-less prefer not to do without it. Only then, when they will lose their dependence upon the written examination will they also lose their phobias in regard to them. All this again shifts the emphasis for the responsibility of the education of the student in the adult group back upon the educator. The adult personality has to be remotivated, or mo- tivated anew. It is not the intent to present a note of futility, for despite the handicaps, real progress is, none the less, made. In the meantime, the experimental school has been growing in number as well as in range of activity. Some of them are now organized to assume the responsibility of education through the best part of the adoles- cent period as far as the academic school, ihe modern approach has even made inroads upon some academic and professional schools. The general philosophical approach of modern educa- tion is proven. A great deal of experimentation and meth- ods of procedure, particularly for the adolescent groups will still have to be carried on before education can function organically. It is difficult to totally discard some measure of formalized procedures. This is perhaps entirely justifiable, if personality variability is given cognizance. I + becomes less easy to accept a specific yardstick of measurement as a standard without allowing for a variable factor. Intelligence tests there- fore, must have their limitations. The time factor of perception or receptivity cannot loom up too greatly in importance without considering other relations. But amazing progress has been made; and there is strong indication for the future that the personality arriving in the adult group of educa- tion will be sufficiently motivated. A number of imponderable factors will, however, first have to be resolved.